Understanding SAM’s role in registering the joys and agonies of Malaysian sports

THE Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM) turned 55 in February.

The umbrella body for journalists from a variety of media organisations, SAM continues to be a key component within the local sports ecosystem.

Thanks to the SAM awards graced by Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and Minister of Youth and Sports, Hannah Yeoh on Thursday, the organisation came under the glare of the spotlight for the right reasons.

On the sporting front, lawn bowlers Nur Ain Nabilah Tarmizi-Aleena Ahmad Nawawi created history when they became the first representatives from the sport to win the Best Athlete award, while shuttler Cheah Liek Hou defended the Best Para Athlete title by edging two other candidates, powerlifter Bonnie Bunyau Gustin and boccia athlete Noor Azkuzaimey Mat Salim.

For the sportswriting fraternity, the SAM Awards is the only recognition they can obtain from their fellow journalists since the Malaysian Press Institute (MPI)-Petronas awards, held 24 hours later also in Kuala Lumpur, no longer offers the category.

The news report titled “Tandus Pelapis” or Shortage of Back-Up Athletes, was the winning entry that clinched the Siebel Award. It was written by Harian Metro’s Aida Adilah Mat, Firdaus Hashim and Amirul Fazli Zulkafli who walked away with a RM7,000 cash prize and a trophy.

The Star’s T. Avineshawaran bagged the Best Commentary award. Congratulations to all the winners, who among them might be wondering who Siebel was.

As the nation’s foremost sportswriter, Ceylonese-born Norman Siebel enjoyed access to the corridors of power. He had a huge following and was credited with giving the moniker Punch to badminton legend Punch Gunalan and created the nickname the Thing for maestro Tang Hsien Hu.

Tang, the Indonesian-born Chinese badminton legend credited with nurturing Lin Dan into a world beater, was so agile, powerful and ferocious that he literally tore his opponents apart, prompting Siebel to liken him to THE THING, the main character in the 1951 sci-fi movie.

Siebel was highly influential in shaping the rakyat’s opinions on sports in the1950 and 1960s. He wrote a racing column for pre-war Malaya Tribune, then made a name for himself as an opinion maker in football, rugby, track and field and tennis.

SAM was not the sudden result of a bolt from the sky. The need for a sportswriters’ association may have been strengthened after the setting up of the Asian body in Bangkok in 1966. Siebel was the vice-president.

Two years later, Siebel and Datuk Gurbaksh Singh Kler attended a world association meeting at Mexico City during the 1968 Olympics. They decided the time was ripe for a Malaysian association.

So on February 21,1969, Siebel and 37 others, including Gurbaksh, turned up for the inaugural meeting at the Straits Times Sports Club office at Balai Berita.

Although I knew Siebel only by reputation, veteran sportswriter Ian Pereira regaled me with his personal experience with the former. So did the late Mansoor Rahman, a one-time New Straits Times sports editor.

Meeting his daughter Mel Siebel who came all the way from Seattle in 2008 to share photos and her personal account of her father, made me appreciate his writings better.

Against this backdrop, I mooted the idea for SAM to name the awards after Siebel and other presidents in honour of their immense contribution to the association. In 2016, SAM announced the overall sports journalism category would be named the Siebel Award.

Six decades into its existence, SAM remains a convenient platform of furthering the interests of sports journalists.

A proposal at the inaugural meeting to exercise the sportswriters’ traditional right to pick the nation’s top sportsman and sportswoman annually was realised decades later when the Hadiah Murni was awarded in 1981.

This was overtaken by the Sam-Benson & Hedges gold awards for excellence and leadership in 1986, which today has been rebranded as SAM-100 Plus awards.

Unlike the National Sports Award that honours Sportsman and Sportsman of the Year, SAM awards reward the nation’s best performer of the year, regardless of gender.

SAM’s current president, Norismadi Abdul Manap from RTM, is the association’s 12th president, in the footsteps of Siebel, Datuk Rahim Razali, Gurbaksh, Zainuddin Bendahara, Datuk Fauzi Omar, Shaukei Kahar, Mustakim Aminuddin, Abu Bakar Atan, Ahmad Khawari Isa and Datuk Jasni Shafie.

Rain or shine, SAM will be around to register the joys and agonies of Malaysian sports.